First Day of Spring

Instead of doing "spring cleaning" yesterday on the first day of spring, my girl and I went out, did/had some of our favorite things, and simply enjoyed the day.

As you know, Madi's top 1 on her list of her favorite things is books! So off we went to the mall and listened to story time at Pottery Barn Kids and read books by ourselves at Barnes & Noble. We both love soups, brownies, and mocha frappuccino so we had all that for lunch at the Starbucks inside B&N. We are on a budget but we managed to do a little shopping with some gift cards, coupons, and a little cash we had #wink. But no matter what (under budget or not), I am a very cheap shopper and I always only go for good buys #sotrue. Since we were out on the road already, we did a couple of errands and then straight to Kumon.

Days are longer now and I was happy to be able to do some gardening when we got home. There is this tree in our backyard that sort of has expanding branches and bend all the way down to the ground (no clue as to what kind of tree it is exactly yet). I thought it might be dangerous for my little girl to be playing around that tree and getting poked so I trimmed it. 

My husband was working on the grass- fertilizing it and mowing. I tried using the mower too so I could do it in times that he might be away. Surprisingly, it was not that hard at all to mow but it was indeed my first time to do it and I did not know that I should not be wearing flip flops… So stepping on the cut and some wet grass made my feet green! Believe me, I am saying all these with delight. Touching the soil, getting all muddy and dirty make me feel like a kid.


And oh, I planned to skip spring cleaning but was able to organize Madi's closet and bring out her spring clothes (tomorrow should be my closet). Plus, vacummed as well!


Hope you had a sweet first day of spring too. xoxo

Yellows = Sunshine

Story time at Pottery Barn Kids.
She also likes the play time after.

My pretty and sassy little girl.

She loves Eloise too.

Italian Wedding soup, brownie,
& mocha frap (no coffee, of course).

Love the bird cage we bought.
This is the tree I was talking about too.

Obviously, it's not a dead plant
and it has a purple flower.

Twigs I cut from the tree. 

Greeny Grassy Feet

After I cleaned up the kitchen from dinner,
I found her in her room. 

Gardening

Well as you know, we just moved to a new house with a good size backyard. As of now, status is just all grass and weeds. It needs a LOT of work, really. The weather has been getting nice and finally yesterday had the urge to buy a couple of plants and some gardening tools. Considering the few items we bought for  a start, I must say that gardening could be a pretty expensive hobby. Well maybe it would pay off once I start eating my own crops, I suppose…

We (my husband and I) also borrowed a few books from the library about gardening to educate ourselves as we are both doing this (planting, that is.) for the first time. We thought about a lot of things we would like to do with this backyard. We thought about a badminton court, swimming pool, chicken coop, pergola… just a bunch of ideas but it is definitely not feasible to do everything (it is big but not that big…). So we think that best thing to make out of it is to plant fruits and vegetable. Well I told my husband that it's not a farm but just a backyard so I also want flowers as well, not just fruits and vegetables. As per the books, it is not advisable to plant right away so this year would only be observation on the sun spots, soil condition, and proper planning.

However, like I said, I bought a couple of indoor plants yesterday: Yucca and Umbrella Tree. I transferred them to decorative pots, I experienced feeling the soil with my bare hands and I enjoyed it. It reminded me as a kid, when I played with the soil. I would put it in my toy cooking wares, mix it with water and pretended it was some soup or viand. I also remembered our garden (in the house I grew up in) which my grandfather tended. He had a green thumb and he just loved to garden. We had all kinds of plants and even orchids. I had a good couple of hours in the backyard since my baby was taking a nap. I tried to use the big garden scissors we also bought and cut some grass on one portion, pulled a few weeds out, a little cleaning… I was working but felt relaxed. My dad said that gardening is therapeutic and he is right. I feel that if I really do this, it will be helpful to my well-being. I also hope that this would be a hobby that my husband and I can share and have that healthy quality time together.

Here are just some photos from yesterday:

Umbrella Tree & Yucca

Gardening Books

Found myself uploading The Home Depot app...

Saw this planter in the front yard while
cleaning. I don't know what this is but a
friend said it might be hyacinth.
Would you know?

It is nice and sunny again today. I shall take pictures of every corner of the yard and share it with you later plus the landscape idea we have in mind.

Have a happy day!

Signs of Spring

Winter has been kind this year. We have lived in apartment/townhouse type of places where everything was done for us such as plowing and mowing. It is our first time to live in a "real" house and experience doing our own garbage, fixing broken pipes and the likes. We prepared for big time snow: bought a blower, boots and all but so lucky to have not been able to use them (or yet). At least we have more time to prep our energy for the next winter season.

The past three consecutive days were gorgeous! 70's baby! Madi had a blast playing in the backyard and wearing skirts. Here are our Instagram photos.

Floral Printed Flats

Poser

When she swings she likes to shout,
"Best day ever!"

Signs of Spring

Plants Getting Sunshine

Happy Bird

Sunshine

I certainly enjoyed them too. I am thankful for the beautiful weather and hope it will continue until the official last day of winter.


Today is looking pretty sunny too but not as warm as the past few days (Kind of chilly in the 40's). We plan to stay indoor: do our chores, homework, and think of fun crafts. Wishing you a fruitful day, lots of love and peace in your heart.

Today In NYC

Today, we drove to NY to drop off my dad to the airport, JFK. We thought it was a chance to stroll around the city since we were there already. 

First, we wanted to visit The Museum of Moving Image but when we got there, we thought we would just go back another time when we have all day or more time, rather. I will definitely bring Madi there soon because it is one of my favorite things in Queens.

Jon wanted to check out a store in Manhattan so off we went. I got some cheap photo adhesives for my scrapbooking from Adorama in 18th Street (which made me happy). Along that same street were a number of paper/novelty shops that I also love. I could just walk around there all day… One of my dreams is to have a novelty shop of my own. I am not a business woman so that might never be a reality but imagining myself owning and managing some kind of paper store makes me smile. 

Then of course, we had to visit Books of Wonder to make the stroll worthwhile for my little girl- she loves bookstores too. To our delight, the famous skater, Kristi Yamaguchi was there for signing! (This would be Madi's third book signing.) I always have fun bringing my girl to bookstores and read her books. Having a cupcake and hot cocoa is really just secondary (wink).

We definitely miss all the yummy restaurants in China Town so we had to get dinner and buy some more to go. That roasted duck wasn't enough for me (sad face)- I want more… (burp). 

It was a pretty swell day in New York today but so not happy driving every time I am there. There is just  never a time a New York driver honks on me. Come on, it is Sunday, so what is the hurry? 

JFK Airport

Washington Square

NYC Downtown

Books of Wonder

With Kristi Yamaguchi